April 1, 2020 NEWS RELEASE: Tulare County Public Health Branch Announces Positive Cases of COVID-19 at Redwood Springs Healthcare Center

April 1, 2020

Tulare County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Haught has announced that six patients and two healthcare professionals at the Redwood Springs Healthcare Center tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Due to protected health information requirements and to maintain patient privacy, we are not able to disclose further information about these cases.

 “We are thinking about the patients and staff at Redwood Springs,” said Dr. Haught. “Public health staff are working in close coordination with Redwood Springs Healthcare Center to monitor everyone in the facility.”

Positive COVID-19 patients are currently being housed in shared rooms separated from other residents and are being cared for by dedicated staff who are serving only those positive COVID-19 patients. Additionally, those who are symptomatic will be tested.

COVID-19 can be controlled by appropriate public health action such as surveillance, identification and isolation of cases, infection control, intense contact tracing, and isolation of persons who may have been exposed to COVID-19.

These eight cases are a part of the 59 total cases that Tulare County HHSA announced today.

The COVID-19 infection can be transmitted from person to person via airborne droplets such as when coughing or sneezing. It is highly contagious and characterized by mild cold-like symptoms, or it can be a more severe lung infection with a fever.

The Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency is diligent about the protection of patient privacy, in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and for this reason we cannot release any other information about these patients. The information we release about the positive COVID-19 cases in Tulare County is carefully curated to provide useful information to our community members, while also excluding information that would lead to the identification of patients. This is a protection, provided by law, that is extended to everyone.

Updates continue to be available on our website: www.tchhsa.org.

For more information about COVID-19, visit www.tchhsa.org/ncov, https://www.facebook.com/TulareCountyHHSA/, and https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/ncov2019.aspx


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